Blanding, Michael. The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps. New York: Doubleday. 2015. Print.
First Sentences:
At one point, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to muffle the sound. As he did, an X-Acto knife blade wrapped inside fell softly on the carpeted floor.
Description:
Michael Blanding in his carefully documented The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps tells the true story of E. Forbes Smiley and his thefts of rare maps from the libraries of the world. A map dealer himself, Smiley was considered one of the most knowledgeable men in that field. His persistent research on maps, mapmakers, paper, and history made him a trusted expert and a successful dealer.
But he lived a grandiose lifestyle, buying and selling items on credit, until his debts began to mount. A quick, unplanned theft of a rare map one day provided an easy resolution to his financial problems. With his expertise, he knew the rarest (and most salable) maps, and which one were only loosely tucked into dusty books and unlikely to be missed. After building up a clientele of buyers along with the trust of map librarians worldwide who allowed him to search their fragile collections unobserved, the temptation and reward were too great for him to ignore.
Smiley is caught by police in the opening pages of The Map Thief, freeing the narrative to uncover fascinating background details about Smiley's life, his expertise in maps, and his decision to become a thief. Smiley eventually admitted to stealing over 90 maps and rare documents although experts believe he stole hundreds more.
Author Blanding gives a fascinating history of world exploration, maps, map-making, and even map theft throughout the book. He discusses how maps evolve from their first printing to the next, building on new knowledge and exploration as well as art techniques over the years. Blanding points out the details and design of famous maps, and includes illustrations and photos that give these documents value and unique qualities that lure collectors and thieves alike.
Smiley's story provides a new layer art theft that I had not anticipated: exactly how does a library identify an item that cannot be stamped, tagged, or otherwise marked (and therefore ruined) by typical ownership methods? It is by the vigilance of people. Blanding reveals that it is often a suspicious map dealer who recognizes the rare item and contacts the library that owns the map to see whether it might be missing. Clever librarians in one case matched up bookworm holes in the stolen map with those existing on previous pages of the book.
Fascinating, scary, historically illuminating, and riveting in its narrative of both the map thief and the worlds that created the irreplaceable documents of history he stole for profit. Highly recommended.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Dolnick, Edward. The Rescue Artist
Boser, Ulrich. The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft
E. Forbes Smiley III couldn't stop coughing...The glass fishbowl of the reading room at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript library at Yale University was quiet except for the low hum of the air-conditioning and the clicking of fingers on keyboards, making Smiley painfully aware of the noise he was making.
At one point, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to muffle the sound. As he did, an X-Acto knife blade wrapped inside fell softly on the carpeted floor.
Description:
But he lived a grandiose lifestyle, buying and selling items on credit, until his debts began to mount. A quick, unplanned theft of a rare map one day provided an easy resolution to his financial problems. With his expertise, he knew the rarest (and most salable) maps, and which one were only loosely tucked into dusty books and unlikely to be missed. After building up a clientele of buyers along with the trust of map librarians worldwide who allowed him to search their fragile collections unobserved, the temptation and reward were too great for him to ignore.
Smiley is caught by police in the opening pages of The Map Thief, freeing the narrative to uncover fascinating background details about Smiley's life, his expertise in maps, and his decision to become a thief. Smiley eventually admitted to stealing over 90 maps and rare documents although experts believe he stole hundreds more.
Author Blanding gives a fascinating history of world exploration, maps, map-making, and even map theft throughout the book. He discusses how maps evolve from their first printing to the next, building on new knowledge and exploration as well as art techniques over the years. Blanding points out the details and design of famous maps, and includes illustrations and photos that give these documents value and unique qualities that lure collectors and thieves alike.
Smiley's story provides a new layer art theft that I had not anticipated: exactly how does a library identify an item that cannot be stamped, tagged, or otherwise marked (and therefore ruined) by typical ownership methods? It is by the vigilance of people. Blanding reveals that it is often a suspicious map dealer who recognizes the rare item and contacts the library that owns the map to see whether it might be missing. Clever librarians in one case matched up bookworm holes in the stolen map with those existing on previous pages of the book.
Fascinating, scary, historically illuminating, and riveting in its narrative of both the map thief and the worlds that created the irreplaceable documents of history he stole for profit. Highly recommended.
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Dolnick, Edward. The Rescue Artist
Scotland Yard's unique art crime division unravels the theft of Edward Munch's painting, The Scream and other art thefts. (previously reviewed here)
Boser, Ulrich. The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft
Investigation and conclusions about the unsolved art theft from Boston's Isabel Stuart Gardner Museum.
